Find out if there are alternative types of treatment without injections. It may be possible to find oral or topical (applied to the skin) treatments that are safer and equally effective. For example, there are oral and topical tanning treatments.

2. Use new disposable instruments

(a) Make sure the equipment you use is new, unused, and not tampered with in any way. The packaging should be unbroken. It is better to buy the product just before you use it. If the vendor is a health professional, such as a pharmacist, ask for his or her advice on usage and safety.(b) Do not share skin-piercing products with others; both he product and the equipment used to administer it may become contaminated.

3. You sterilize the instruments

It is safer not to try to sterilize your own equipment. If you keep reused syringes and needles at home, even if you boil them after use, it is easy for them to pick up germs from hands, cloth, and air. This can lead to infections and abscesses. So: use new disposables.

4. Ask providers how they sterilize instruments

Botox, melanotan, and other skin-piercing beauty treatments should be available in pre-filled syringes, so there should be no need to prepare or reuse anything. Check that your provider is using a fresh product and new equipment from a package opened in front of you. Look around the facility and ask the provider about hygiene and safety. If they are not willing to answer questions, do not have the treatment there.

Additional information on beauty treatments that involve injections and other skin-piercing procedures

Newspapers in the UK and Australia have reported unsafe cosmetic injections of botox, tanning agents (melanotan), steroids, and dermal fillers (collagen). These treatments can be obtained in salons, or they can be self administered. Some practitioners may offer such treatments in the home, where conditions are likely to be unsuitable.